Budget 2011: A Labor budget?

As a Labor member, I was was pleasantly surprised to hear a major change of rhetoric from the federal government during the budget speech and in the days that have followed.

There was an embracing of the word, "Labor".  Talk of Labor values. And an attempt to create a values based narrative around jobs, training and participation.

And it seems to have been backed by some real, though minor and subtle shifts in economic and labour market development policies.  Ian McAuley from the University of Canberra writes about this in New Matilda.

The Treasurer did give some hints of a return to traditional Labor principles in Tuesday’s budget. In making some cuts to "middle class welfare", it is mildly redistributive, and it takes a few steps toward economic reform in terms of getting more people into the workforce. It breaks a little from economic policy of recent years.

And Possum Comitatus wrote about some of the real labour market development policy shifts in Crikey yesterday.  Also worth a look.

Is it revolutionary? No.  The optimal public policy moves? Probably not.  What I would regard as progressive? Certainly not with new participation test for disability support pensioners.

But it is interesting.

Shoppers and how they travel

Every example you look at from around the world where clearways have been created 24 hours a day, retail trade goes up. That is the reality of it.
- Peter Moore, Executive Director, UITP (International Association of Public Transport)

The build up in the popularity of trains has now been matched by increases in patronage for trams . This is creating an increased demand from the travelling public for more services, bigger and modern trams, and more reliable services.

Melbourne is unusual in two regards. We have the largest tram system in the world. And we have a system that largely runs on inner suburban streets unseparated in large parts from other forms of traffic.

This creates conflicts for road space – particularly in Melbourne’s case given the split in responsibilities and a desire to protect suburban strip shopping by providing parking access on main streets.

Campaigning for better public transport

Here is a nice example of a film explaining the logic behind better priority for our road based public transport.

Could the IMF be making things worse?

An incomplete* survey of worldwide stimulus packages by grad students at Boston University raises some interesting questions. In amongst them is the claim that IMF rescue packages could be making things worse by prescribing austerity measures in developed countries at this moment when expansionary fiscal policies are seen as the key to avoiding a return to depression like conditions.

* incomplete becuase as commentors note it does not include some countries fiscal stimulus like, say, Australia.

A Party and the Economy

Well, today was fun. I picked a winner (and the runner up) and won a nice $265.

If you won, well if the Reserve Bank is right, you may need it. Today they cut interest rates by 0.75% which, while good for people with home loans, is concerning. Hopefully we can escape an recession, but that hope dims further each day.

Economic Slowdown

Today I went to a couple of Sydney Road cafes which seemed more empty - much more empty then usual.

A sign of a declining economy? I hope not.